Comparison

AHA PALS vs LCAST

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

AHA PALS

This app provides pediatric advanced life support (PALS) protocols and tools for healthcare professionals at the point-of-care. Developed by physicians and vetted by the American Heart Association, it offers intuitive access to algorithms, drug information, and timers for critical care situations.

Highlights
  • PALS pathways and algorithms
  • Drug therapy and dosing
  • CPR and intervention timers
  • Metronome for compression accuracy
  • Critical care references
  • Vetted by AHA and physicians
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

We continue to iterate based on real-time clinician feedback so that you will have the best experience providing life-saving care at the bedside. The AHA PALS app was developed by Harvard-trained physicians, in collaboration with the American Heart Association (AHA), to help fellow physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and emergency medical technicians (EMT) deliver the highest level of pediatric advanced life support (PALS) at the point-of-care. This project was inspired by the tremendous success of our AHA ACLS app, which has thousands of clinician users in over 180 countries. Importantly, real-time feedback from our clinician users continuously drives improvements in app design, features, and function. AHA PALS is the only app to have all content vetted by both the American Heart Association (AHA) science team (with license to use PALS content) and practicing Harvard-affiliated physicians. We owe it to our patients to use the best digital health tools to give them the highest chance of surviving acute life-threatening illnesses. To this end, we have developed an intuitive and rigorously vetted mobile app to assist healthcare clinicians—at any stage of training—navigate PALS at the bedside. You can purchase a yearly subscription which begins with a 3-day free trial. After completing the free trial, you will be charged for an annual subscription automatically. Features: - Intuitive design to rapidly access PALS pathways (i.e. cardiac arrest , tachycardia with pulse, bradycardia with pulse, post cardiac arrest care, and critical care references) - Includes all PALS content including drug therapy and dosing, reversible causes, etc. - Easy-to-read timers and ability to log rounds of CPR, epinephrine, and defibrillations. There are additional functionalities to log PALS Cardiac Arrest interventions beyond EPI, CPR , and shocks such as lidocaine and more. - We also added a new metronome feature to improve compression accuracy as well as a ROSC button. - Button within cardiac arrest algorithm that allows for rapid transition to post cardiac arrest care checklist once patient achieves ROSC - Relevant critical care references: (1) drugs used in PALS (i.e., medication names, indications, and doses); (2) vital signs in children; (3) pediatric color-coded length-based resuscitation tape (adapted from Breslow tape) ; (4) pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale - All content rigorously vetted by AHA science team and practicing Harvard-affiliated physicians - Regularly updated with the most up-to-date PALS content

About

LCAST

This medical tool aids healthcare professionals in assessing the plausibility of bruising in young children. It utilizes a validated clinical decision rule to help identify potential abuse by analyzing bruise characteristics and body locations. The app serves as a screening tool to inform decision-making and educate users on bruising patterns.

Highlights
  • Bruising clinical decision rule (TEN-4-FACESp)
  • Interactive 3D body model for inputting observations
  • Compares bruise findings to published evidence
  • Screening tool for children under 4.0 years
  • Educational tool for healthcare providers
  • Data based on multi-center NIH-funded study
Features
Read full description

The Lurie Children’s Child Injury Plausibility Assessment Support Tool (LCAST) is an app based on a validated Bruising Clinical Decision Rule (BCDR) called the TEN-4-FACESp. Use of this tool has the potential to improve recognition of abuse in young children with bruising. This app functions only as a screening tool and cannot be used to diagnose abuse. The app applies to children less than 4.0 years of age with bruising. If the child is older than 4.0 and/or bruising is not present, this tool cannot be used. In those circumstances, alternative methods of screening for abuse are needed. WHY FOCUS ON BRUISING? Bruising is the most common injury resulting from physical abuse and is the most overlooked or misdiagnosed antecedent injury prior to an abuse-related fatality or near-fatality in a young child. Bruising occurs from both accidental and abusive trauma, but differences identified by the TEN-4-FACESp bruising clinical decision rule may allow improved and earlier recognition of the abused child. ABOUT THE APP: The app is intended for clinical use by licensed healthcare professionals and providers. The app can inform decision-making and be used as an educational tool for learning about bruising characteristics that commonly result from abusive and accidental injury. The core feature of the app is an interactive 3D body model that allows the user to utilize visual cues of the human body to input clinical observations. The result is the opportunity to compare a child’s bruise findings to the published evidence resulting from a NIH-funded multi-center study. The data that drive the app are based on 2,161 patients of which 410 (19%) were classified by a multi-disciplinary panel of medical experts as abuse and 1,713 (79%) as accident. The TEN-4-FACESp bruising clinical decision rule resulted from analysis of 35 body regions and is 96% specific and 87% sensitive for distinguishing bruising from abuse versus accident. The TEN-4-FACESp has three components based on: 1) specific body regions with bruising, 2) patterned bruising, and 3) bruising anywhere on non-mobile infants. An affirmative finding for any one of the three TEN-4-FACESp components without a clear and reasonable explanation indicates a potential risk for abuse. The child may warrant further evaluation and consultation with an expert in child abuse should be considered. In addition to using the data in this app, the user should always check with a doctor before making any medical decisions.

Screenshots

AHA PALS4 screens
LCAST3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: AHA PALS at 55% against LCAST's 0%. AHA PALS also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 21 months) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). LCAST's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.1). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. AHA PALS sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per year. LCAST asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AHA PALS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AHA PALS has 53 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of AHA PALS's written reviews are positive against 0% of LCAST's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AHA PALS ships an update every 2 months, LCAST every 21 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
AHA PALS versus LCAST: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAHA PALSLCAST
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (53 ratings) — better4.3 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews54.5% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings53 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 21 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
Best chart rank#154 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.19.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB146 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperMassachusetts General HospitaligNew, LLC dba Slingshot

Customer experience

AHA PALS

All ratings53 ratings
Positive88.7%
Neutral1.9%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral9.1%
Negative36.4%

LCAST

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

AHA PALS

Subscriptions1
  • PALS3 Days trial$3.991 Year
None

LCAST

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AHA PALS free?
AHA PALS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LCAST free?
LCAST is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AHA PALS or LCAST?
AHA PALS is rated higher. AHA PALS averages 4.5 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while LCAST averages 4.3 from 8 ratings.
Do AHA PALS or LCAST have ads?
Neither AHA PALS nor LCAST shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AHA PALS or LCAST?
AHA PALS ships an update every 2 months, and LCAST every 21 months. Most recently, AHA PALS was updated on October 14, 2026 and LCAST on October 17, 2026.

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